Fox Corporation and Fox News have agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems US$787.5 million to settle a US$1.6 billion defamation lawsuit after Fox News aired false claims that Denver-based Dominion's ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the 2020 US election in favour of Joe Biden.
Dominion argued that Fox’s on-air opinions caused the company “enormous and irreparable economic harm.”
News of the settlement emerged just as opening statements were supposed to begin before a jury.
“We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues,” Fox said in a statement.
The settlement announcement followed a ruling by the judge that Fox could not invoke free speech protections under the US Constitution in its defence.
The US$787.5-million settlement is significant even for a corporation as large as Fox, as it represents about one quarter of the $2.96 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) the company reported last year, CBC News reported.
Fox Corp generated nearly US$14 billion in revenue in 2022.
Dominion Voting Systems was originally founded in Toronto by John Poulos and James Hoover.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com